We Meet the First Tuesday
of the Month in Sharon,
MA.
Next Meeting is Tuesday, February 6, 2017 at 6:00 PM
or meet early at C.B. Perkins at 5 PM Cobb's Corner, Canton.

Meeting

Club
Info & Events

President's Message

Greeting All!!Yes!
It’s that time of year again. No No No I do not mean Valentine’s
Day where we spend foolish money on something we love so much…..Wait
a minute. That’s exactly what we do in February. Yes, February
that time of year that brings us St. Valentine’s Day but,
most importantly (drum roll please)………“INTERNATIONAL
PIPE SMOKING DAY” I don’t know the origins
of the Holiday but, who ever thought it up is just genius. It falls
on February 20 a week after Valentine’s Day so we can’t
be denied any purchases after showering our significant others with
stale candy and half dead flowers purchased from some street vendor
at the last minute on the ride home from work. Remember this is
our Holiday and it is our constitutional right to spend as freely
as we want even if it means missing a mortgage payment or dipping
into the kids college fund. They will understand, just explain to
them that the purchase of a new pipe (or a Dunhill 7 day matched
set) will bring you years of non-stressed living and actually make
you a better and more tolerable mate.
In the past, on IPSD, we celebrate it by visiting the Old
firehouse Smoke Shop in Fall River.
This year we are planning on doing the same but instead of Tuesday
February 20th we have planned our visit for Monday February 19th
. It is Presidents Day so most of us will have the day off. We are
hoping for a large attendance as we will be presenting the charter
to the new associate club that plans on meeting there. What could
be a better day to do this other than ISPD?
Details will follow about specifics in a separate e mail.
Since we are on the subject of love, while I am writing this I am
smoking a pipe that I really do love. I mean I love all my pipes
but, there are a few that are just extra special. This month bring
in your most cherished pipe. Tell us a story about it and why it
is considered top tier. It could be a corn cob willed to you by
your gimpy Uncle Ted or a pipe you commissioned from a famed artisan
and don’t smoke it. Just bring it in, tell us the back story
and receive an extra raffle ticket for a chance to win one of my
former lovers. I promise she’ll still have some life in her
and may just knock your socks off.
In closing I’d like to make mention of those brave men who
put the frigid temperatures behind them and made last month’s
meeting, most of which were sporting their favorite traveling cap
as requested in last month's Gazette. It was much better attended
than expected. We figured on about 5 members but, actually had close
to 12 in attendance. Even our old friend Tucker showed up on the
coldest night of the year with the bone chilling wind howling and
temperatures dropping while the rest of you were probably home with
your fuzzy slippers on sipping hot chocolate watching Scooby Doo
reruns. Takes a real man to smoke a pipe…Just sayin’.

See you Tuesday…if it’s not too cold
for ya!

Kevin

The Virginia Crisis of
2018By
now most of you have heard about the end of the McClelland's Red
Virginia, a leaf that is the base for a number of other McClelland
blends like 5100. Yes, some of their blends will go away (if they
haven't already been bought up) but McClelland is NOT going out
of business as some have rumored. McClelland has too many more fine
blends to call it quits now. It is because of their dedication to
the quality of their blends that another Red Virginia just won't
do if it can't measure up to what they currently produce (and they've
tested a lot). So rather than sell you an inferior product they
have chosen to discontinue those blends that use it.
The folks over at Country
Squire Radio have a more in depth conversation of the end of
McClelland's Red Virginia and the future of tobacco. Listen
now.
Featured Story
................................ by Ernie Whitenack

Mystery of the Killer Pipe - Chapter
4

On
the way to Jake Wirth’s Scott stopped at L.J. Peretti’s.
He thought he needed a break from Royal Blend; something a bit
softer. Whisky blend was suggested, a Cavendish blend, with a
subtle flavor and aroma from curing with Kentucky Bourbon. Mild,
smooth and mellow. He reached Jake Wirth’s just as Frank
did and just ahead of the noon rush. In the booth they used for
many years, both finished off their Knockwurst and German hot
potato salad and settled back with the last of a dark beer and
lit their pipes.
“Well,” Frank started. “Your Albert Ryan certainly
has a checkered reputation in Europe......

Tobacco's smells and flavors are highly engineered. The few brands
that do not use additives use flue curing for sweetness, genetic
engineering, blending and/or faster nicotine delivery in order
to make tobacco's natural harshness more acceptable to the senses.

William Nigel Ernle Bruce
(4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was a British character
actor on stage and screen.
Bruce was the second son of Sir William Waller Bruce, 10th
Baronet and his wife Angelica Lady Bruce, daughter of General
George Selby, Royal Artillery.
He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series
of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes (starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes). Bruce
is also remembered for his roles in the Alfred Hitchcock
films Rebecca and Suspicion.
Nigel Bruce typically played buffoonish, fuzzy-minded gentlemen.
During his film career, he worked in 78 films, including
Treasure Island (1934), The Charge of the Light Brigade
(1936), Rebecca (1940), and Suspicion (1941).
Bruce participated in two landmark films: Becky Sharp (1935),
the first feature film in full Technicolor, and Bwana Devil
(1952), the first 3-D feature. He uncharacteristically played
a detestable figure in The Rains Came (1939) which became
the first film to win an Oscar for special effects.
Bruce's signature role was that of Dr. Watson in the 1939-1946
Sherlock Holmes film series with close friend Basil Rathbone
as Holmes. Bruce starred as Watson in all 14 films of the
series and over 200 radio programs of The New Adventures
of Sherlock Holmes. Although Watson often appears to be
the older of the two main characters, Bruce was actually
three years younger than his co-star Rathbone.
Though for most viewers Nigel Bruce formed their vision
of Dr. Watson, Holmes purists have long objected that the
Watson of the books was intelligent and capable (although
not an outstanding detective), and that Bruce's portrayal
made Watson far dimmer and more bumbling than his literary
original.
Rathbone, however, spoke highly of Bruce's portrayal, saying
that Watson was one of the screen's most lovable characters.
The historian David Parkinson wrote that Bruce's "avuncular
presence provided the perfect counterbalance to Rathbone's
briskly omniscient sleuth". Historian Alan Barnes notes
that, despite the criticisms against him, Bruce rehabilitated
Watson, who had been a marginal figure in the cinematic
Holmes canon to that point: "after Bruce, it would
be a near-unthinkable heresy to show Holmes without him".[Read
more..]

Video of the Month(3:34) This an edited clip from The Spider
Woman, which contains one of my favorite pipe smoking scenes
in all of the Rathbone-Bruce movies. It also shows Watson's
(Bruce) undying devotion to his friend Sherlock Holmes.

TOBACCO RAFFLE!For our February raffle, we have two
tins from G.L. Pease:

Regents FlakeIn
Regent's Flake, a generous measure of fine Izmir leaf is
layered on a sturdy foundation of mature red and sweet bright
Virginia tobaccos, then pressed and allowed to mature and
ferment in cakes before being sliced and tinned. This is
one for the lover of Oriental mixtures, with their exotic
and enticing incense-like aroma and brilliant flavor. Rub
up a flake or two, fill a cherished pipe, and prepare for
an exceptional smoking experience.

Dunhill London MixturePicadilly
is a provocative blend of several Virginia tobaccos, delicately
spiced with Latakia, and finished with Louisiana perique.
The alluring flavor is revealed in layers throughout the smoke.
It's lighter and sweeter than the others, but still rich,
with hints of cinnamon and citrus. A perfect "English
Breakfast Mixture."
Pipes & Tobacco Around the Web

Country
Squire RadioBelow are links to the Country Squire Radio
episodes that aired since the last Gazette. See them live
on Monday Evenings at around 8:30 PM Central Time on YouTube
| Website
(9:30 Eastern Time)

I
Hear of Sherlock Everywhere(IHOSE)A
delightful way to spend an evening with Holmes as your affable
co hosts Scott Monty and Burt Wolder share their unique
perspectives and sense of humor. Find out more than you
ever thought possible about the greatest pipe smoker that
never lived.

Sherlock
Holmes: TriflesFrom
the producers of the I
Hear of Sherlock Everywhere podcast, Trifles is a 15-minute,
weekly audio program where Scott & Burt discuss something
related to the Canon.
Have you ever stopped to wonder about why Dr. Watson was called
James by his wife? Or of Sherlock Holmes's dining habits?
Or what happened when he let a criminal escape? Answers to
these questions and more await in Trifles, a weekly podcast
about details in the Sherlock Holmes stories. iTunes
| Website

Tired of spending $15+ on a tin of tobacco just to find out you
don't like it? The Tin Society can help. They will send you 4 tobacco
samples (along whith some other goodies) each month from popular
tobacco brands. They have 3 plans to choose from. Check them out,
they might be just the solution you've been looking for. Take
me there.